Minnesota rookie forward Kevin Love
confirmed Thursday that he will join the USA Basketball Select Team
that will scrimmage daily against Team USA beginning Monday at Valley
High School.
 
"They talked to me, and I’m going to do it," Love said.
 
The former UCLA standout joins a
roster that includes rookies O.J. Mayo and Derrick Rose. Love is
averaging 20.7 points and 15.0 rebounds for the Timberwolves in the
summer league.
 
 
 

Could another year at UCLA have served him better in lifting his game to the professional level?


Not an issue, Stan Love says.
 
"When you can be the No. 5 pick in the draft," the older Love said,
"and make X amount of dollars, you can’t tell a kid to stay in school
so he can get a better job. Not when he can get a job that will pay him
more than his mom and dad will make in their whole careers. The advance
Kevin got on his contract is more than I made in my four years in pro
ball."

 

 
Love acknowledged that he will need time to adjust to the speed of the
game and the grind of an 82-game schedule. He also aspires to continue
to shed weight and lower his body fat; he has trimmed that from 15
percent to 12 percent since the end of the college season and hopes it
eventually dips below 10 percent. More than anything, Love said, he
will need to become a better defender…
 
The spotlight will only get brighter for Love — a film crew was
recording a "day-in-the-life-piece" Thursday and he will be featured on
the cover of EA Sports’ March Madness video game this fall. But, more
than anything, the competitor who played in three high school state
championship games before reaching the 2008 NCAA Final Four during his
only season at UCLA wants to help transform a losing franchise into a
winner.
 

 

Timberwolves rookie Kevin Love, 19, whose contract guarantees him
$5.4 million for the next two years, won’t be buying a Cadillac
Escalade or similar luxury sport utility vehicle like many of his
teammates.
 
"Maybe a Prius, because gas prices are so high," he
said. "I’m all about saving money so I can have some security. I’m not
chasing money; I’m chasing the game."